


A Game With Shooting Star

by torn_seams



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: After Ending, F/M, Gaming, M/M, MMORPGs, Minor Original Character(s), Nonbinary Character, Saeran Redemption, Spoilers, probably 5-10 chapters, redemption arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-09-24 15:55:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9769283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torn_seams/pseuds/torn_seams
Summary: Saeran is persuaded to join Yoosung in an adventure through LOLOL. Can he handle teaching a genius with zero experience how to play? No matter what, there WILL be snacks involved.





	1. Chapter 1

_-Yoosung★ has entered the chatroom-_

Yoosung★: guys

Yoosung★: guyyyssssss

Yoosung★: no one’s here;;;

Yoosung★: I feel like I haven’t been online in forever lol

Yoosung★: so i got back on LOLOL to see what’s up

Yoosung★: and i came halfway into extra EXP event!!!

Yoosung★: i’ve been away for so long i went down in the guild ranks tho...

_-Saeran has entered the chatroom-_

Yoosung★: Hey Saeran!

Saeran: ...LOLOL?

Yoosung★: oh yeah

Yoosung★: i guess you haven’t heard about the gaming community for a while

Yoosung★: or played any video game;;

Saeran: This is awkward.

Saeran: But tell me about it. Why are you so invested? Is it not just a video game?

Yoosung★: yeah, the funnest video game in the world! And i’m super high on the leaderboards, i’ve got to keep my place up. Over a quarter billion people are fighting for it lolol

Saeran: First of all, it’s most fun. Second of all, more than 250,000,000 people? What’s so fun about a computer game?

Yoosung★: O

Yoosung★: M

Yoosung★: G

Yoosung★: what

Yoosung★: if you

Saeran: Please don’t fill the chat.

Yoosung★: sorry

Yoosung★: you’ve got skills with computers. what if you let me teach you how to play LOLOL?? if you don’t like it, at least you’d know what it is lol

_-Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom-_

Jaehee Kang: lol

Jaehee Kang: Yoosung. Do you really think Saeran is the type of person to play video games? I know you’re happy to be back online, but remember that not everyone enjoys computer games like you do.

Yoosung★: T_T i’m sorry saeran

Jaehee Kang: Of course, I’m all for Saeran having opportunities to readjust to society, but please think before you type.

Yoosung★: T_T that’s putting it a little bluntly

Saeran: ...I’ll do it.

Yoosung★: dfjivnewkeak

Jaehee Kang: It seems I was proven wrong.

Saeran: I’m honestly sick of being stuck in this house with Saeyoung and sometimes MC. It’s mind-numbing, I haven’t done anything other than read and get groceries that one time.

Saeran: I’d bite off a leg to get out of here, but allowing Yoosung to have his fun is a slightly better alternative.

Yoosung★: …

Jaehee Kang: I feel like that was a joke that Mr. Han might enjoy.

Saeran: I’ll be over at your dorm in an hour.

_-Saeran has left the chatroom-_

Yoosung★: i didn’t mean today;;

Jaehee Kang: Yoosung… I don’t exactly agree with this plan.

Jaehee Kang: But I’m glad you’re using your interests to connect with Saeran.

Jaehee Kang: I must leave for work, but I hope it goes well. Good luck, Yoosung.

_-Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom-_

Yoosung★: I can’t believe Saeran’s coming over so soon...

Yoosung★: it’s gonna be fun tho! i should leave and clean up my dorm a little.

Yoosung★: bye!

_-Yoosung has left the chatroom-_

\------------------------------------

Saeyoung jumped as the door closed. Walking to the living room, he saw MC reading a note and smiling.

“Saeyoung, your brother left a note for you,” MC said, passing it to him.

“From Saeran?” Saeyoung asked, scanning the note.

  
I’m out. Read the messages, I’ll be at Yoosung’s with your laptop. If you need to make sure, check the cameras. We all know they’re still running at Yoosung’s. Sounds like a great conversation starter, actually.

  
MC stifled a laugh as she saw her fiancé’s face blanch. “We’ll take down that camera, won’t we now?”

  
Saeyoung’s shoulders slumped as he walked to his computer, opening the security camera’s program.

\------------------------------------

The door creaked open, revealing Yoosung with one hand leaning against a wall and the other offering an energy drink.

“How long have you been waiting in that ‘impressive’ pose, exactly?” Saeran said, raising an eyebrow as he walked into the dorm, ignoring the drink.

“Not long,” Yoosung muttered, following his guest.

  
“So,” Saeran announced, setting down the laptop, “where do we begin?”

  
Yoosung logged onto his desktop, opening up LOLOL. Saeran followed suit, the website requesting login information.

  
“Does it matter what I make my username?” Saeran said, entering in the required info.

  
“Well, no, but it’d be best if you-”

  
“Good,” Saeran said, keying in his name. “This doesn’t work.”

  
“Well, the name needs eight characters and numbers. You can go with something more creative…” he trailed off as the username Saeran12 appeared on the monitor. Yoosung’s jaw dropped as his guest’s fingers flew, typing a seemingly random scrawl of dots across the password box. “You know, you have to remember this?”

  
“Yep,” Saeran said, clicking to the next page, prompting him to pick a class.

  
“Oh, I can help! The best class is obviously the Stormer, he’s a total damage sponge, along with having attacks with a lot of coverage and attack,” Yoosung smugly explained.

  
Saeran looked closer. “But the Elemage is clearly better. Many of his attacks are ranged, and, while his melee attacks are limited, they have fair damage or lasting effects. Also, several of his spells give bonuses in defense, which covers his biggest flaw.”

  
Yoosung realized he was staring, and shot straight up in his chair. “You said you had no idea how to play video games! You’re analyzing like a pro!”

  
Saeran shook his head. “I don’t have a clue how to play. It’s just common strategy. The best defense is a good offensive, and if anyone manages to get close, I have backup defensive and healing moves. If these powers were real, it would be a very good combination. The Stormer has potential, but his best shot is to go out in a blaze of doling out lots of damage before his health runs out. Real strategy can get you so much further.”

  
Yoosung laughed nervously, seeing that his logic had immediately been defeated. “Haha, yeah. I guess that’s a good idea for a certain type of player.”

  
Saeran selected his class, and adjusted his base stats, items, and moves within the game’s limits. As he finished, he started the game and spawned.

  
Yoosung smiled, adding Saeran12 to his party. “Okay, let’s do this.”


	2. Chapter 2

Yoosung’s initial excitement was somewhat negated by Saeran reading and rereading the entire set of instructions. Considering the complexity of the game, this took about an hour. Yoosung was given more than enough time to make food.

“Saeran, are you finished yet?” Yoosung moaned. “Nobody I know has ever read that thing through, just learn as you play!” Yoosung had used up all of his popcorn in his boredom, and was now realizing that caffeinated drinks weren’t the best beverage for sitting down patiently for several hours.

Finally, Saeran clicked the continue button. Yoosung dove into his chair, approaching Saeran’s sprite to guide it to a beginner-level quest. As the fast-travel to the Sundown Village Caverns loaded, Yoosung looked at Saeran.

“You ready to do this? I’ll keep my headset off to guide you through it.”

“I think I’ve got it,” Saeran muttered as the map loaded. He took off immediately, blasting through enemy after enemy.

Yoosung was keeping the pace, but hardly needed to help him. “Wow, you’re a quick learner. But, a strategy I would use right here would…” he trailed off again, seeing that Saeran was already using it, circle-strafing around the enemies to round them up, then using his base chain attack. The resulting combo launched _Saeran12_ up 7 levels.

Yoosung was nervously sweating, wondering how someone so inexperienced was playing like a LOLOL veteran. Then he shook it off, figuring he was just rusty and hadn’t seen good gameplay in a while. _Beginner’s luck as well_ , he thought to himself as he went to a top-tier dungeon to train on his own.

Half an hour later, Yoosung took his earphones off when he heard Saeran grumble. “Ugh, and I was doing so well…”

Yoosung walked over. Saeran had died when a swarm of Smithfires had overtaken him. His character had already reached Level 39, and he had gotten a long way into the Skudridge Forge, a dungeon usually not explored by players less than Level 60. Saeran was opening up his settings and the death screen, and Yoosung rushed to stop him as he moved his cursor to “Delete Account?”

“What was that, Yoosung!?” Saeran said, turning angrily after the wireless mouse was pushed to the ground. “There’s no point in restarting now. I’ll go back now that I know how to make a better character.”

“Saeran, you don’t restart from the beginning, you spawn back at your last save point and only lose some items!”

Saeran’s eyes widened. “I thought those were just if you quit and came back later, actually. That makes things a lot less stressful. By the way, you made a lot of food. You should really eat that before it goes to waste.”

“Those… are snacks. Mostly for your comfort.”

“Really? Thank you, I haven’t eaten much lately. When I finally could tolerate Saeyoung’s chips, MC came and made us decent food. Now he’s on a cooking kick despite not being able to cook in the slightest.” Saeran paused. “Also, I’m not used to eating a lot in general. For obvious reasons.”

Yoosung was slightly taken aback by his directness. “Well, go at it. Feel free to whatever.”

 

\------------------------------------

 

_-Saeyoung has entered the chatroom-_

 

_-Yoosung★ has entered the chatroom-_

 

Yoosung★: he’s really good at LOLOL

 

Yoosung★: like

 

Yoosung★: REALLY

 

Saeyoung: this is coming from the #2 player on your server? Lol

Yoosung★: he’s level 39, and he’s been playing for less than 45 minutes.

 

Saeyoung: wait

 

Saeyoung: he’s totally hacking dude

 

Saeyoung: lolol no one gets there that fast

 

Saeyoung: maybe the top 1% could

 

Yoosung★: i’ve been watching him the whole time!!! he played it naturally

 

Saeyoung: oh my

 

Saeyoung: well, he is a genius

 

Saeyoung: it runs in the family

 

Saeyoung: *eyebrow waggle*

 

Yoosung★: -_-

 

Yoosung★: wait

 

Yoosung★: that would actually make sense

 

Yoosung★: don’t scientists say that twins act really similar and share traits and stuff?

 

Saeyoung: I mean, maybe…

 

Saeyoung: Or we’re clones O.O

 

Yosung★: -_-_-

 

Saeyoung: don’t worry though lol, he can’t pass up your spot in second

 

Yoosung★: wait brb

 

Yoosung★: he found something in the pantry

 

Saeyoung: k good luck with him

 

Saeyoung: Yoosung?

 

Yoosung★: soz he got a little excited

 

Yoosung★: he just discovered cosmic brownies

 

Yoosung★: i’m gonna calm him down and we’ll play some more, it hasn’t been that long

 

Saeyoung: ok lol peace out

 

Saeyoung: have fun with saeran

 

_-Yoosung★ has left the chatroom-_

 

_-Saeyoung has left the chatroom-_

 

\------------------------------------

 

Saeyoung slipped his phone into his pocket and spun around in his chair.

“MC! Saeran is apparently very good at LOLOL. How about we make it a bit more exciting for him and Yoosung?”

MC peeked her head out from the kitchen. “That sounds… amazing. Haven’t used my account much though, they’ll destroy me.”

Sayoung smiled. “Let’s start now, then.”

 

\------------------------------------

 

Saeran took a deep breath. “That was quite possibly the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“Uh, if you say so,” Yoosung said, giving an awkward chuckle, “but Cosmic Brownies are pretty fantastic. I guess you haven’t had anything that rich in a while.”

Saeran picked himself up off the couch. “It tasted like a brick of chocolate compacted into one bite,” he said, glancing at his watch. “It’s been over an hour. I’ll leave if you want me too.”

“No, if you want to stay, I’d love you to!” Yoosung stammered, cringing inwardly at his over-enthusiasm.

Saeran’s eyes widened. “Well, I can’t say no to that. Thank you.” He sat down on the seat Yoosung prepared for him, and Yoosung sunk into his gamer chair. Unpausing the game, he saw he had been challenged to a party battle by a team named _killshootingstar_ . Clicking on its info, he saw no bio, and two members: _Goattackman21_ , Level 32, and _Thirst4Blood,_ Level 7.

Yoosung softly chuckled. Level 30 was the minimum level to create a party, so this party had prepared as quickly as possible to fight him, probably two people he had killed and stolen a lot of items from, attacking anonymously. Normally, he would ignore something like this, allowing the team to cool down. There was no glory in fighting such a low level party, but he wasn’t happy about the 57 spam messages they had assaulted his inbox with.

As he prepared to teach them a lesson, a message popped up from a leader in his guild.

_Yo, we may be fighting a boss soon. I know you’re with someone, but if by any chance we need you, don’t get caught up in something. We can probs take care of it though, don’t worry too much._

Yoosung shrugged, and hurried to find Saeran on the world map to go after him. He could defeat them anytime with Saeran, and easily win a 1v1 against _Goattackman21_. As he fast-traveled, he forgot all about the challenge. After all, it wasn’t a threat.


	3. Chapter 3

After another half hour, Saeran had reached Level 51. Yoosung had just received another message.

_if you could come join the guild activity it would be nice, bring friend if needed_

Yoosung got to a safe spot and checked the guild events. Half of the members were in a waiting list for a boss. _It’s only a boss, they’ll easily take it down,_ he thought. Before clicking away, however, he checked the info. The drop-down box opened, showing an unknown box. The roster could hold 30 members, and the waiting time had just gone past 10 minutes. If the boss required this many people, this was a big deal.

Glancing at Saeran to see him forcefully concentrating on a Level 85 dungeon, he opened up his direct messages.

 

Shooting Star: hey, what’s going on? That’s a pretty tough boss

 

RazeNAmaze: ...you know how the game got updated while you were gone

 

Shooting Star: well yeah i haven’t gotte

 

Shooting Star: omg

 

Shooting Star: you aren’t serious

 

RazeNAmaze: ya it’s the newest final boss

 

Shooting Star: I thought no one had faced it before?

 

RazeNAmaze: nope we first

 

Shooting Star: You’re typing pretty fast, is something wrong?

 

RazeNAmaze: gotta vote

 

RazeNAmaze: need best plyaers like you

 

RazeNAmaze: cant miss voting round

 

RazeNAmaze: come in b4 time’s up we need u gtg

 

Shooting Star: Okay, I‘ll be there soon.

 

“Saeran,” Yoosung called.

Running to get out of the dangerous zone, Saeran answered, “Yeah?”

“Something important is happening in the guild. A major fight. Usually they wouldn't call if I was with someone, but they sound like they’ll have trouble if I’m not there. You can come if you want.”

Saeran shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

Yoosung clicked to join the fight roster, inviting Saeran12 in. A few of the guild members protested having such a low-level player there, but the leaders quieted them.

 

Shooting Star: Okay so we’re doing this?

 

RazeNAmaze: we sure are

 

RazeNAmaze: Taesoo found its hiding place down in the Rythnor Ruins

 

RazeNAmaze: says he went there in this update and it wasn’t there

 

ParallelWorldz: ya it just appeared randomly

 

Saeran12: It’s probably a set interval.

 

RazeNAmaze: wait lemme check your profile out saeran

 

RazeNAmaze: -_-

 

RazeNAmaze: yoosung i thought you didn’t hang with hackers? This guys suckkkkssss anyway

 

Shooting Star: -_- i’ve been with him, his levels are legit

 

Saeran12: There’s no point in cheating. Also, I wouldn’t waste my time hacking your game.

 

ParallelWorldz: waaaaaaaatttt

 

RazeNAmaze: that’s pretty crazy

 

RazeNAmaze: even i don’t think i advanced at that level

 

Saeran12: Yep. We get it. We have five minutes left, you are trying to get your best players in, correct?

 

RazeNAmaze: i didn’t get to be leader by not choosing the best. there’s 34 people in the roster, and we can choose 30

 

RazeNAmaze: not hard to narrow down

 

Shooting Star: we don’t have a strategy? no info about the thing?

 

RazeNAmaze: nah. gave us 6 hours to contact everyone, must be hard. sucks that we couldn’t reach any other guild leaders but ya know

 

Saeran12: You’ll have to adapt as you play. I’d think you’d be experienced at that at your level. Good luck.

 

RazeNAmaze: you know, we have room

 

RazeNAmaze: i say we let saeran join the fight

 

ParallelWorldz: Haewon, that’s an awful idea. He’s barely past Level 50!

 

ParallelWorldz: no offense sorry!!!

 

Shooting Star: i mean, he is really smart. Like, genius smart. Saeyoung said his IQ would be like 160 if he took the test lol

 

Saeran12: How nice.

 

RazeNAmaze: Saeyoung?

 

ParallelWorldz: we don’t have time for this!!! 30 secs left

 

RazeNAmaze: ok exec decision im letting saeran in

 

ParallelWorldz: one vote against it, soz

 

Shooting Star: i vote in

 

Saeran12: 2 out of 3? I’ll do my best then.

 

ParallelWorldz: you type rly fast, might need that lol

 

\- Chat ended. Battle Loading. -

 

Yoosung and Saeran’s game loaded, sending them into an oddly gray plain. Considering LOLOL’s usually vibrant palette, it was disconcerting.

“This is weird. Where’s the boss? I’ve never even seen a boss arena this big.” Yoosung questioned. His inquiry was quickly answered by a deep crack in his earphones, coming from a glowing rift cutting itself in the center of the field. The tear spat out different colors, seemingly at random, and several messages popped up saying that it caused damage to anyone in it.

Haewon’s voice rang out in the voice chat.. “Okay, I’m opening up mic privileges to Shooting Star. We’ll give out mic as we see fit.”

“Okay, guys,” Yoosung’s voice crackled to life. “We want to stay close to the boss, but not so close that we won’t be able to respond to threats. Spread out about a fourth of the distance from the hole to the boundaries. Those with ranged attacks should move out a bit further.”

Saeran looked at Yoosung. “I haven’t seen you take initiative like this before. This game really does wonders for you.”

Yoosung grinned at him, and turned back to his computer, watching the battle commence. The chat filled as a large, stony arm slowly rose out of the pit and the colors stopped. The battlefield went silent as everyone stared. Suddenly, the titanic appendage slammed to the ground, very nearly crushing three players. Dark stalagmites erupted from the ground, spiraling towards nearby sprites. The two dozen other fighters not being targeted were either launching attacks or furiously commented that the boss had no health bar.

“Calm down, it may just not be on a stage where it has a health bar! Remember the Titan of Elkadar? Even if it doesn’t, we can’t change it. Keep your attention on the monster.” Yoosung angrily spoke.

As the words passed his lips, the hand receded into the pit. Another silence settled on the field, wondering what had just happened and why it was over.

As Yoosung and Saeran glanced at each other to see the other’s confusion, a large _chunk_ sounded, and pandemonium ensued as the warriors turned around to see that the boundary was now covered in spikes, and had began to close in on the party. As it grinded closer, a huge hand once more appeared out of the rift, followed by another. And another. Yoosung and Saeran readied their weapons as a dozen hands sprang out of the dark cavern.

However, the hands didn’t attack. They planted themselves on the ground right next to the crater and seemingly strained and tensed.

Yoosung muttered into the microphone. “Guys. I think it’s pulling something up.”


	4. Chapter 4

The party launched an onslaught on the offending hands. Haewon and Yoosung shouted into their microphones, trying to explain that they were wasting resources.

“Don’t attack, it’s probably a transition scene!”

“There’s no point, it doesn’t seem to be stopping it.”

The ground began to shake, putting a stop to the players. Out of the pit rose a huge black mass, covered by whirring, bladed tentacles. Two eyelids slowly lifted, revealing sickly yellow orbs.

“Everybody, keep cool. Make small, circular movements to avoid attacks.” Yoosung muttered.

The tentacles slowed, revealing the few details of the dark blob. As its protective blades drove to a halt, they formed a gate around the thing’s face. In a flash, several broke from the barrier, swinging towards the players like enormous swords.

The targets all dodged, some by a small margin. The tentacles began whipping around, sweeping over huge areas.

Leaping over an attack, Yoosung cried, “Okay, we’ve been through attack stages a lot harder and faster than this. If your charge attacks don’t slow you down too much, I recommend those!”

Spurred into action, the team lit up the gray sky with a flurry of projectiles. The flesh of the beast glowed a blood red shade where it was hit for a half second, showing there was was _some_ effect. Yoosung smiled briefly, and then returned to his stolid position as figures shrouded in mist crawled out of the pit.

Confusion ensued, some observing the new NPCs, many firing at them, others stilling bombarding the boss. As the number of cloudy monsters surrounding the pit multiplied, they froze as they got to their feet. More and more of the ashen creatures piled up.

“Stop firing at the creatures! Focus on the boss!” Yoosung said, admonishing the distracted players.

The stream of colorful attacks again centered on the boss. The team began to get its rhythm back, the chat slowing as those in the battle focused on their enemy. Just as Yoosung thought they were making a little progress, the haze around the dark figures dissipated, and hundreds of humanoids cloaked in yellow-green fabric raised their head. The formation broke as they surged forward.

 

\------------------------------------

 

_-ZEN has entered the chatroom-_

 

ZEN: Saeran?? Playing video games?

 

_-Saeyoung has entered the chatroom-_

 

_-Jumin Han has entered the chatroom-_

 

Saeyoung: crazy right? he’s doing rly well tho

 

Jumin Han: Does skill with computers translate over to video games?

 

Saeyoung: lol it does let you feel a lot more comfortable

ZEN: Saeran’s also, like, a super genius or something

 

Jumin Han: Either way, I hope he doesn’t get addicted to LOLOL like Yoosung.

 

Saeyoung: lol i really don’t think you’ll have to worry about that

 

Saeyoung: video games don’t seem like his idea of fun

 

ZEN: What’s his idea of fun then?

 

Saeyoung: umm;;

 

Saeyoung: Learning that is a work in progress.

 

_-MC has entered the chatroom-_

 

Saeyoung: ^^

 

MC: didn’t you say saeran was doing really well, actually?

 

Saeyoung: oh yeah, i’ve been watching them play

 

Jumin Han: He’s doing well?

 

Saeyoung: productivity you’d be proud of, sir! *salutes*

 

ZEN: What do you mean?

 

Saeyoung: well, he somehow got invited into the final boss fight with yoosung’s party

 

Jumin Han: Don’t you need to train for a while? Isn’t there some sort of… EXP points you need for advancement?

 

Saeyoung: that’s the thing

 

Saeyoung: he’s levelling up faster than 99%  of players, but he’s still nowhere near where should be

 

MC: He’s still in the battle though! Not dead yet

 

Saeyoung: correct!!! two players have died, and both of them were about 100 levels above him, but he seems to still be in the fight

 

Saeyoung: sadly, i can’t get any further without hacking, and i’ll give them their privacy

MC: (he’s too lazy to hack the server)

 

Saeyoung: T_T babe

 

Saeyoung: i’m doing something rn, it’s not like LOLOL is the hardest server to get into lol

 

Saeyoung: speaking of which

 

Saeyoung: i should get back to it

 

MC: I’m coming too :)

 

Saeyoung: peace out guys!!!

 

Saeyoung: <3

 

_-Saeyoung has left the chatroom-_

 

_-MC has left the chatroom-_

 

Jumin Han: I presume they’re up to something.

 

ZEN: They’re just enthusiastic about it. You don’t have to call Saeyoung out about everything.

 

Jumin Han: I also presumed you knew Saeyoung and his antics?

 

ZEN: i mean

 

ZEN: you never know everything that’s going on with someone

 

ZEN: I’m goingsome running, good luck Yoosung and Saeran.

 

_-ZEN has left the chatroom-_

 

Jumin Han: I should get back to business, anyway.

 

Jumin Han: I hope all’s well with Saeran.

  
_-Jumin Han has left the chatroom-_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The nest chapter will most likely be a longer one, constituting the boss monster fight, more of what Saeyoung and MC are planning, and Yoosung freaking out about LOLOL's story with all the other players, leaving Saeran quite confused. See you in a bit ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized a few things in this chapter may need explaining. These notes are just in case anyone needs any more clarification!
> 
> 1\. If you aren't well-versed in video games, a "buff" refers to a positive effect applied to a character by a move, item, or event.
> 
> 2\. Using the word "mic" on its own isn't a typo, it's just much handier than saying microphone or mic privileges in the heat of battle.
> 
> 3\. It's not directly stated, but Haewon DOES go by they/them pronouns. Saeran knows this from their bio.
> 
> Enjoy the longer chapter!

Yoosung and Haewon were struggling to keep order amid the chaos caused by the new opponents. As they revealed themselves, they were identified as Caylethian Tearers, sending a wave of excitement through the players. 

“Stop chatting or you’ll die! I  _ know _ what they are, chill out! We can’t uncover the plot if we’re killed off.” Yoosung groaned into the microphone.

Haewon shouted, “Listen to Yoosung and shut up! We’ll lose this fight because of you slackers squealing about the story! Cayleth can wait, FOCUS!” Haewon rarely raised his voice, so this silenced the excited warriors.

Saeran spoke to Yoosung as he stared at the screen, his fingers flying. “Haewon suits you. What’s Cayleth?”

Yoosung laughed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he held off the assault. “It’s an important place in the story. You haven’t advanced that far yet.”

Saeran gave a small shrug as his eyes remained glued to the fight. “By the way, this strategy is failing fast. The Tearers are breaking apart any formation you had, and picking off players one by one. You need to regroup.”

“I will, I just need a second,” Yoosung blurted, trying to fend off a particularly difficult series of attacks. “Haewon, this isn’t working! Everybody, get together in groups.”

The team slowly merged into disheveled packs, scattered across the playing field. Any stragglers began to be overwhelmed as they were left behind on their own. Saeran shifted in annoyance.

“Are you planning anything? Several are being left to fend for themselves, and they’re being picked off even quicker than before. The cost of regrouping is outweighing the gains.”

Yoosung’s head sank, his shoulders tensing up more than they already were. “I-I… What else can I do? We’ll have to deal with what we’ve got. Everybody, maintain distance from each other! Just enough so that the Tearers can’t get in between you!” 

The groups began to hold their ground again. Few attacks could be waged against the main enemy, but the groups kept a safe distance from any potential Tearer threats.

“Okay, pay attention while we’ve got a bit of leeway,” Haewon demanded. “We’ve got four groups together, one with four, one with six, and two with seven. That means we’ve got three people alone in the field that are still alive, give or take any mistakes in counting.  Mijun, grab the nearest one and migrate to the group with four. Yoosung, there’s a loner between you and I, get them.” Haewon gave a sigh and sprinted off to rescue the last outsider.

Saeran let a low whistle. “They know what they’re doing.” He glanced at Yoosung, who nervously covered his microphone.

“You wouldn’t know, but Haewon’s actually super stressed. Their anxiety levels are through the roof. They need help.” He uncovered the mic and rushed back into action.

“Give me mic privileges.”

Yoosung gave an uneasy laugh. “What?’

“Give me mic privileges.” Saeran said, without a hint of doubt in his voice. “Haewon will snap if we keep going at this pace, they’ll be exhausted by the time we get the boss’s health down enough. I feel that leading will be the only way I can help to make a dent, and is that not why you let me in?”

Yoosung stared at him (or did the closest he could get to a stare while being incredibly focused on LOLOL), and began to set up the private call.

“Haewon! I’m giving Saeran mic privileges, we need help!” Yoosung cried.

“No, I’m fine, we’ve got this in the bag. Just give me a sec-”

“You can’t handle this on your own! Sometimes you can’t take on everything yourself, even to help others! Trust me, I have some personal experience with that.”

Haewon stammered for a bit. “I mean, we’ll just… I’ll accept the request.” 

A notification immediately appeared in his inbox. 

 

_ Give  _ _ Saeran12  _ _ microphone privileges? _

_ <Accept> <Deny> _

 

He clicked  _ Accept _ with a moment’s hesitation. “Okay, Saeran-”

Before he gave instructions, the soft but authoritative voice rang through the battlefield. 

“This is Saeran12, rightfully given mic. If you look around you, you’ll see that three people have already been killed in the first stages of the battle, and the rest of us aren’t doing much better. At this rate, we’ll slowly be taken out as the boss takes almost no damage.”

The chat stopped completely, with everyone listening raptly. Haewon and Yoosung nervously typed reminders to keep fighting as Saeran gave instruction.

The man raised his voice as he began his orders. “Okay! Firstly, we need to get organized better! Take note of those in your group. You will go by Group Haewon, with seven players, Group Yoosung, seven, Group… Taesoo, eight, and Group Saeran, six, which I’m heading to now. FateKiller, come to my group quickly, don’t engage any Tearers.” Saeran took a deep breath and waited. Nobody moved from their group, unsure about the new commander.

“ _ Do you want to win or not?”  _ Haewon seethed, and the teams took action rather quickly. The outsiders that had been brought in took positions in their new squad, and Group Taesoo and Group Saeran traded the player.

Saeran smiled, and ordered, “Good. Now, our main problem is the Tearers filling the battle floor, giving us no chance to attack. Anyone who has both abilities Speed 3 and Poison Trap 2 or higher activate both and move around their group at an increasing radius. No more than two a group, though.”

Yoosung prepared his buffs as Saeran moaned in aggravation in the corner. Surely enough, the chat was filling with protests.

Saeran shifted in his seat. “I know the poison won’t kill them. But Caylethian Tearers have low health, and don’t take much to kill. If we get the number of hits needed to kill them down, then we’ll have a lot more time to hurt the main enemy. Now go!”

Ragged spirals of purple began to stain the area around the teams. As the enemies stepped in it, they slowed as the life steadily seeped from them. Several of the runners stopped to face the foes, but Yoosung quickly interfered.

“No! The remaining five can take care of them, focus on spreading the poison wider.”

Saeran thanked him, then again spoke out with a new plan. “If you have Strength Spread 4, type an “i” in the chat.” Several names appeared immediately. “Okay… that’s one for two teams, two for me, and zero for Group Taesoo. HurtingHeart88, on my command, swap with ElysiaCloud9 in my group.” As he said it, the poison spreaders lost the buff, their tail of purple fizzling away. Most of them stood there in confusion, setting up for a lone battle.

“Don’t fight them! Run back, Speed lasts longer than Poison Trap, get back to the group quickly. You two, switch when the runners come back in, circle around the Tearers chasing them.” There was a rush of movement as players traveled back into their fighting positions.

Before Saeran could take a second to relax, Haewon’s soft voice flowed over the game, filled with worry. “Um, what’s it doing?” they asked. “ Something’s charging up to the left of me.”

Saeran turned and saw a point of golden light forming in a ring of tentacles on the strange boss.  _ It’s not attacking on that side, so that’s a plus,  _ Saeran figured,  _ but the spot can’t be anything good.  _ Before he could ponder the issue anymore, the spot roared into a huge, bright beam, fired directly at the player running to Group Taesoo. Yoosung, Haewon, and Saeran sat in confused silence. 

The ray flickered out quickly, but it left no sign of the player ElysiaCloud9.

“Her name disappeared from the game list almost as soon as it hit,” Haewon whispered. “That attack’s big enough to take out a whole group, what will we do?”

“It hasn’t happened before, so either it happens more often as more damage is inflicted or is just a rare move,” Saeran said confidently, “Either way, we’ll need to watch out for it. Everyone, keep an eye on the boss. Actually, scratch that. The leader of each group needs to check the boss frequently, and assign one member to help. HurtingHeart, you’re the watcher in my group.”

The other group leaders chose their most trusted team-mates, and went back to their defensive positions, albeit with two members pausing intermittently.

“Okay, we’re about to activate Strength Spread. Taesoo, your team will have to use Strength Spread 3. If you are the member using the ability, step into the center of the team to charge up now! Use it as soon as the charge time is up.” 

All four teams closed in slightly, filling in the gap the member left. Group Taesoo took a noticeably longer time, but handled it eventually. One after another, a translucent red aura covered the teams, enveloping the players that were now making significantly more damage against the Tearers.

“Yes!” Yoosung cheered, but Saeran only let out a pent-up breath.

“Now, we can stand our ground with ease. Teams, have three soldiers direct attacks onto the boss from the center. Taesoo, have two attack it if you can handle it. While the buffing field is up, try and use charge attacks. We need to work fast. The wall is still closing in, and it’ll become a real problem in just over ten minutes. If we don’t take care of it, we’ll all be destroyed within fifteen.”

The players uneasily decided who would defend and attack, worried about the grave consequences of bad choices.

The redheaded leader groaned in anger. “It doesn’t matter as much who makes it happen as if it  _ does  _ happen. We’re losing time, hurry!”

“Group Taesoo, disassemble! Run apart quickly!” Yoosung cried, before Saeran could berate them any longer. 

“Yoosung, what are you talking ab-” he stopped, seeing the chat. In the confusion, the boss was nearly unobserved. Haewon’s secondary watcher had posted a frantic warning about another glowing spot.

“Group Taesoo…” All three commanders let out an unfinished order as a blast shot down in the center of the crumbling group. The two set to attack the boss had been about to aim the charge attacks. With little time to move, they were overwhelmed by the attack.

Haewon interjected into the action. “Group Taesoo is down. Ah… Taesoo himself is gone as well. The remaining members should make their way to the nearest group.”

“Everyone fire now! We won’t be able to do much if it starts that attack incessantly, hit it hard here and now!” Saeran cried, seeing a ex-Taesoo member fall to the ground as she ran towards his group. “Yoosung, Haewon, rearrange your teams according to how many arrived from Group Taesoo.”

“Saeran, stay cool. You’re going over the edge,” Yoosung soothed, seeing Saeran’s flushed face. “I think you’re taking this way too energetically, it’ll be taxing on all of us, including you.”

Saeran turned in indignation, then relaxed as he realized that he really was acting far more intense than was needed. “You’re right. I’m getting too excited over a game, I should leave that to you.” He took a deep breath and smirked. “Don’t worry, though. Intense or not, the monster won’t stand a chance against us.”

 

\------------------------------------

 

“Okay, I think you’ve got it. This is the last access code you’ll need. Feed this into the decryption program, and then you’re in! Ready?”

MC looked at him with a sparkle in her eyes. “As always.”

“N-V-G-A-I, L-B-R-G-F.”

“Got it.”

“H-R-E-T-L?”

“Yep.”

“I-C-V.”

“You wha- I got it!” she nervously smiled.

Saeyoung gave her a wan look. “While it processes, I’ll check out how Saeran and Yoosung are doing.” he said, flipping open his main computer and opening up LOLOL.

“You know, you’re not a bad teacher. I’m sure you could easily teach a college cla-”

“Nope. Not at all. First of all, I don’t think connecting with a bunch of people is my thing, especially considering that I’m younger than a lot of college students. Also, knowing more than top-level government hackers is suspicious, no matter how good it looks on a résumé. Why do you mention it?” he asked.

“I just figured you had a talent. In fact, I think I’m just about ready to break into Fort Knox.” she said with a giggle.

Saeyoung’s fingers flowed across the keyboard. “Sorry, babe, maybe set some limits. A downed camera won’t help you if you can’t hack into the eyes of a few dozen guards, and trust me, I’ve tried. Whoa.” he added as he pulled up the party list of the gaming pair. “They’ve lost a sixth of their team now. It looks like most of their deaths happened just now. I hope they’re doing okay. Saeran gets really amped during competition.”

MC shrugged. “I guess you’re right. He’s usually calm, which is weird. But I can’t forget the time we made him come mini-golfing. How do you break a club?”

Saeyoung clicked around to see if he could figure out anymore legitimately. “Well, that’s for sure. My brother will do anything to win.” he said, then blanched as he filtered the list for microphone privileges. “They gave him mic privileges. That effectively makes him a leader, as much as Yoosung.”

The decryption engine as MC looked at Saeyoung anxiously. “Good luck with that, then."


	6. Chapter 6

“We’re finally wearing the Tearers down!” Yoosung yelled. The team cheered as the enemies’ numbers wore away. The initial number had been huge, and several fighters believed they had multiplied while out of sight. “Saeran, I think it’s okay to focus one more from each team on the boss?”

  
“More than okay,” Saeran responded, tapping away on the keyboard. “Make sure the groups stay in order, though. All members of Group Haewon, quickly move a quarter of the way to group Saeran.”

  
Without question, the nine members moved, narrowly avoiding the next attack from the orb. One dodged the beam by centimeters, caught off-guard by the suddenness of the situation.

  
Saeran took a second to think, then came to a conclusion. “I think it’s going to start doing that more and more, so go ahead and set up a health buff. If anybody has Vitality Growth 2 or 3, say the number in the chat.” He waited for the chat to fill, and sighed. “Well, we’ll have to do. The two with Vitality Growth, plant it in your group. For Group Yoosung, you’ll need to use the next best healing abilities you can find.”

  
Yoosung addressed the team, and quickly walked to the center with a teammate to activate the area of healing.

  
Saeran smirked as the last Caylethian Tearer fell to the gamers’ forces.

Everything was working like clockwork, at least until two of Haewon’s members were blown away by an unseen attack.

“You need to pay more attention to the boss! It’s attacks may be rare, but they’re powerful! Group Haewon, regroup quickly, we’ve got two teams reduced to seven, and that number’s not as lucky as you’d think,” he said, muttering the last part under his breath.

  
All of the sudden, the screen began to shake, the virtual ground rumbling. "What is that?” all three leaders asked.

At varied spots in the field, circles of red light began to glow on the ground. Along the ground, areas of ground began to crumble, nearly inhaling an unprepared player. Huge creatures pulled themselves themselves out of the holes, and rocks moved to fill the crater. The entire team gasped, excluding Saeran, who rolled his eyes.

  
The monsters, marked as Caylethian Guards, were rounded, stony beings the size of a house. Six craggy arms sprouted from their sides, the bodies perched on two stubby feet. In the excitement, two party members forgot to evacuate the red circles, a beam striking them from the heavens. Saeran turned to watch as one fell shortly after the impact, and another fled, a severe poison afflicted him.

  
“All right! First order of business, keep your distance from the beams. Also, stay away from the guards. Yoosung, any information?”

  
“Caylethian Guards protect the inner layers of Cayleth, they’re very strong, able to take a ton of damage before going down. That’s really all anyone knows, there hasn’t been an area open to actually fight them. Anything about Cayleth is only known from lore.” Yoosung said, tension building in his voice.

  
“Then we learn about them as we go.” He took a breath to continue, but was interrupted by Haewon.

“Group Yoosung, turn towards the wall and dodge!” The group spun to see one of the rocky monsters spinning along the ground. The team split down the middle, scattering to avoid the huge creature. One slower player nearly lept out of the way, but was knocked across the battlefield as the Guard slammed into his side. 

“All groups, draw in closer, but remember what group you’re in. Don’t get too mixed up!” Saeran ordered. After a painstaking minute, the groups finally coalesced into one squadron. “Now, form into a bending line, facing the Guard near the wall. Spread out, don’t get hit.” As they slowly formed into the long shape, the Guard began to roll, breaking the newly formed barrier and crushing a player. Saeran’s ears turned red.

  
“Turn around quickly! Are you already fatigued? We only have about seven minutes left if we don’t stop that wall!” Spurred into action, the line spun around towards the enemy’s new position. “Fire at it, now!” Saeran said. A spectrum of light flew towards the enemy, forcing it backwards near the center of the map as it made contact.

  
“If we don’t do this quickly, another Guard will attack us, completely breaking formation. Put your all into this.”

  
Haewon gave a quick warning. “Eastern wing, move towards the center before you get hit.” Half a dozen players shifted as a boulder shot at them at an angle. The others continued focusing their attack on the main Guard.

  
“Yes,” Yoosung sighed as the foe’s rough skin cracked, the Caylethian Guard giving its last death throes as light spilled out from its wounds. It crumbled to the ground, its glowing scars fading.  
“That went well, but everyone was attacking it at once. Everyone, form your groups again and entrap one at a time. That’s three for each team, let’s do this before the walls close!” Everybody rushed to their positions, surrounding the beasts.

\------------------------------------

-ZEN has entered the chatroom-

ZEN: Wait

ZEN: How did Yoosung even get Saeran to do that??

ZEN: Doesn’t he say that LOLOL is multiplayer or something?

ZEN: lol I can give credit for Yoosung finding something fun to do with Saeran

ZEN: and I can see how Saeran would be super good at the game, bc he’s a genius and all.

ZEN: But

ZEN: Um, no offense

ZEN: Saeran isn’t the most people-oriented person…

ZEN: How would he work in a team?

ZEN: Well I’m not doubting you, just questioning

-MC has entered the chatroom-

ZEN: Hey, MC!

MC: Oh, usually there’s about eleven chatrooms a day, this is rly soon lmao

ZEN: Is something wrong?

-Saeyoung has entered the chatroom-

Saeyoung: there’s exceptions to the rule lolol

ZEN: Why would we have to have 11 a day??

Saeyoung: sorry it’s an inside joke ^^

ZEN: lol…?

Saeyoung: but yea!! don’t doubt what saeran can do yo

MC: well, don’t doubt how much he appreciates talking to someone other than us

ZEN: lol He doesn’t seem the type to stay cooped up, it’s good to get out of the house.

Saeyoung: Yeah!!!!!!! Plus it gives us time

ZEN: time?  
MC: (saeyoung why would he know)

ZEN: -_-

ZEN: You two are confusing

ZEN: But I can’t say you aren’t perfect for each other.

Saeyoung: ah sorry

Saeyoung: we’re preparing something

Saeyoung: you’ll know in a bit ;))))))

ZEN: omg

ZEN: Well, I hope it goes well, whatever you’re doing

ZEN: Those two aren’t here tho… are they still at it?

Saeyoung: yoosung seems to have dragged saeran into the hardest boss battle in the game

ZEN: That boy…

Saeyoung: both of them are still alive though, even though saeran should be a liability with his stats

Saeyoung: eleven out of thirty people are dead, so he must either be doing really awesome or he’s sacrificing others for his own good lol

Saeyoung: wouldn’t be surprised either way lmao

Saeyoung: scratch that

Saeyoung: twelve people are dead

MC: good luck guys!!! woot woot

Saeyoung: woot woot!

ZEN: Lol, good luck

Saeyoung: whoa, thirteen killed now  
Saeyoung: something tells me that the fight will end soon

Saeyoung: one way or another

MC: Oh, should we get back to it??

Saeyoung: yeah, we should! We must be ready

ZEN: your thing has something to do with those two;;

ZEN: Don’t do anything too bad

ZEN: For their sakes as much as yours…

ZEN: I should go anyway, I can get a run in.

MC: peace out Zen!!! Have a good day!

Saeyoung: have the raddest run zen! See ya l8r!

ZEN: Bye!

-ZEN has left the chatroom-

-MC has left the chatroom-

-Saeyoung has left the chatroom-


End file.
